More Than Bread

Send me a Text Message!DON'T LISTEN TO THIS -- If you are going to Christmas Eve services at Calvary Harvest Fields. :) It's not exactly the same, but similar!But if you aren't going to Christmas Eve services at Calvary, I hope that this episode encourages you with the Christmas truth that Jesus is on a mission to bring you home for Christmas!

Send me a Text Message!In this episode, we are going to talk about favor. That's an interesting word isn't it? Favor. It's used multiple times in the Christmas stories. When we think of the word favor, it's usually used in a sentence like this, "Hey would you do me a favor?" When we ask someone to do us a favor we're saying, "You don't owe me. I don't necessarily deserve this, haven't earned it, but I'm wondering if you would do it anyway. Do me a favor." Often that's the question behind our prayers is, "God would you please do me a favor." The Dictionary suggests that favor is kindness beyond what is due or usual. It makes me think that perhaps the a good two word description of Christmas is "God's Favor." As we take a peak at Mary the mother of Jesus, we can pray, "God would you do me a favor?" 

Send me a Text Message!In the end light wins, darkness loses. Why? Because we have Jesus.He is our Unwavering Certainty in the midst of uncertainty. He is our Sacrificial Savior who covers us in his love when we are prone to fear. He's our Overflowing  Abundance when scarcity whispers,  "Protect what is yours, there's not enough to go around." He is our Almighty King, our Righteous Redeemer and in the end He will be the one still standing and we will see Him with our own eyes and when we see Him, what was lost will be found and what was broken will be redeemed, the darkness will be no more and we will celebrate Christmas, like we have never celebrated before...Christmas is an epic, fear-not story, and you are invited to join the story!

Send me a Text Message!The angels said to the shepherds, "For a savior has been born to you..." That to you was just for them, it includes us. Listen to me, the glory of Christmas is not that  God was born in a mess without a family, it's that He welcomes messy people into his family. This is Jesus' trademark. He wasn't born in a gated community or a palace with guards. He was born to us and there is no us that is not welcome to come home. Messy people have been drawn to Jesus for thousands of years, and  He's been drawn to them. And because of that...your best Christmas is yet to come!

Send me a Text Message!I love the iconic manger images of little baby Jesus, but I have to be honest, it's full-grown Jesus with whom I want to be side-by-side. It's the one who stilled the storm, fed the crowd, healed the outcasts and noticed those in the margins of life. It's the one who could gather a crowd but loved you one-on-one. It's the one whoriled up the religious leaders, confused the politicians, scared the hell out of Satan, and loved his enemies all the way to the cross. It's his steps I want to follow. Grown-up Jesus. In this Cosmic Christmas battle, we need more than a baby. We need a King! And that's what we have and because of our King, in the end Christmas wins!

Send me a Text Message!Revelation 12 does not describe a merry, little Christmas. Christmas is a holy war, a cosmic battle for the glory of God, with a vicious villian. Like Frodo and his fellowship against Sauron in the Lord of the Rings, or Iron Man against Thanos, even Little Red Riding Hood against the Big Bad Wolf. A cosmic battle agnst the hosts of darkness. We live in a culture that sees evil as a disease, a pyschological sickness, but the Bible describes evil as personal, malicious and dangerous.That first Christmas led to war in heaven. Christmas is a cosmic invasion in the epic battle between God and evil; between darkness and light. And guess who wins?

Send me a Text Message!I used to pray, God put me in the place where you can use me the best, but these last few years, my prayer has changed, now it's God put me in the place where you can love me the best. And isn't this what Jesus is saying is the reward of those who have little strength and keep his word and love his name? Yes, sure this is an open door to make a difference.  This is the church that will feed a hungry world and love their neighbors all the way to Jesus. But don't miss this. If we don't have intimacy with Christ, we won't make an impact for Christ. As you listen to this episode, I hope a point comes where you pause and ask yourself, "What if that's Jesus knocking on my door?"

Send me a Text Message!So in this episode and the next we are going to hit the last two letters, but I'm going to deal with them together…because they go well together. They go well together because they both reference a door. The church of Philadelphia has an open door. The church of Laodecia has a closed door.Will this Christmas bring you an open door, or a closed door?

Send me a Text Message!In this episode we will look at two "Christmas" letters, one to Thyatira and one to Sardis. With both churches there is this sense of unfinished business. There's a need to keep progressing, keep growing, keep become more of a force for good and God. With Thyatira, it was a bit more of a commendation and with Sardis it was a bit more of an urgent diagnosis. Both churches had good and bad; but both also have this theme of preserving growth. Sometimes in the church and perhaps even in our personal lives we find ourselves exerting a lot of energy, putting on a lot of programs but not really strengthening what matters, not really growing in areas that count. If we want to honor Jesus on his birthday, perhaps the gift of spritual growth would put a smile on His face, so consider this a bit of a Christmas guide to growth!

Send me a Text Message!Today we go back to our Calvary series...ONE CHRISTMAS. And it dovetails well with our regular series, "Come Lord Jesus." Because it's all about having one Christmas that Jesus will never forget. AND it's all about joy. You are pursued. You are invited. There are still empty seats around His table and around His table, the joy overflows! He's inviting us to a Christmas party that could change your world!

Send me a Text Message!This will be my 31st Christmas at Calvary. 31 years of reading and preaching from the same old stories of Christmas, but to be honest, they never get old. What we celebrate at Christmas is so wondrously holy. The heaven's opened up and poured the uncontainable blessings and unmistakable presence of Immanuel God with us. Every year that I think I know it all, I'm reintroduced to the wonder and awe of that truth. And if you think about it, there are some pretty amazing Christmas stories filled with heaven on earth moments. So in this episode, as we take a break from Revelation, we're going to look at an  ordinary Joe, that probably doesn't have main character energy. But this ordinary Joe can teach us more than a little bit about faith! 

Send me a Text Message!The Christmas stories from the Bible are central to celebrating Christmas, not just because we need to know the story, we do. But even more so because John says in his Christmas story, that Jesus is the Word of God. In other words, it's not just about a book. It's about a person. It's not just about knowing the truth it's about loving the one who is true. So there are two equally valid and important statements that we need to understand. First we don't value Christ if we don't value the Word. The Word shows us Christ. It's filled with Christ. It leads us to Christ. I've seen time and time again, when people who love Jesus fall out of love with His Word, over time they fall out of love with Jesus. But it's also true, secondly, that we've missed the Word, if we aren't drawn to Christ. If we learn the Bible without coming to love Christ we've missed it all. Jesus is the Christmas Word!

Send me a Text Message!The cosmic Christmas was a military strike to the forces of evil. But those forces still operate, which is why, when it comes to the hard stuff that the church of Smyrna was going through Jesus peels back the curtain, in essence to tell them that as bad as things are, they are worse than you think. But he goes on to say, that they are also better than you can imagine! Suffering is coming, but the best is yet to come. So don't be fearful, be faithful!And how can we be faithful in fearful times? By realizing that Jesus knows, Jesus wins, and Jesus gives. I'll unpack that a bit more in this episode!

Send me a Text Message!"Do not be afraid." That's the challenge giving to the church at Smyrna, and it was also a pretty common greeting that first Christmas. In Luke 1 – It was the angels greeting first to Zechariah in the temple and then to Mary when the angel brought this message of a baby and a virgin birth. "Don't be afraid." In Joseph's dream in Matthew 1, Joseph was told, “Don't be afraid to take Mary as your wife.” In Luke 2, the shepherds were terrified and the angel said, “Don't be afraid.” In fact, the most common command in the Bible is not "Don't Lie or Steal, Covet or Kill."  It isn't "Love One Another" that might be the most important but not the most common. The most common command in the Bible is Fear NOT!   Lloyd Ogilvie notes that there are 366 fear not verses in the Bible.This episode and the next, we'll talk a bit about fear and I'll hopefully encourage you with the hopeful words, "Don't be afraid!"

Send me a Text Message!The Church of Ephesus was an amazing church! By every standard that we judge churches by today, it was the cream of the crop. But Jesus said something's missing. I have this against you; you have neglected, abandoned, drifted away  from, become indifferent to your first love. Passion for the person of Jesus had been diverted into passion for the projects of Jesus. Activity substituted for adoration. Hard work left no time for heart-work. But Jesus is looking for first-love followers. First in time, first in rank, before the church can be an army for theKingdom, it must be a bride for the King.  So here's his question, "Have you left your first love?"

Send me a Text Message!In this episode I'll ask you this question, "Do you believe God misses you?" I think we have this idea that God is love so God has to love us...because he's God.  But we aren't so sure He likes us; not so sure He misses us, when we are gone. But there is something about love that always desires to be with.  The Bible is not merely a moral instructionl book or a spiritual guidebook left behind by God for those who might want to make the trip up to Him. The Bible is also a storybook telling us about this God who came down to us. That's Christmas. And no matter how difficult our story gets, even when life and hardship threaten to overwhelm you, He is with you, because He wants to be. He loves you.So let me say it again, "Don't miss His heart!"

Send me a Text Message!My teaching series at Calvary is called, "One Christmas." It's all about getting Christmas right, if we only had one Christmas left before we meet the hero of Christmas face to face, how would we shape this Christmas?If Christmas is the love story of God, how do we respond? How can we practically and tangibly love Jesus this Christmas? That's what this episode is all about!

Send me a Text Message!In this episode we take a break from Revelation, but still connecting to our Christmas prayer, "Come Lord Jesus." Jesus is the something more of Christmas. He is our Christmas treasure. He is the more our hearts long for. When it comes to the continuing story of Christmas...Jesus is written all over the pages of the book. It's so easy to focus on all the other elements. Shepherds and Wisemen and angels oh my. Mangers and Santa and Elves oh my. But nothing matters more than Jesus. Do we treasure him? Do we hold him in our hearts?Jesus is the something more of Christmas! 

Send me a Text Message!I think a primary Christmas message of the book of Revelation is that Jesus is no longer a baby in a manger. In fact, Jesus is King of all the kings and presidents, every prime minister, tribal war chief or military tyrant globally. When Jesus appeared to his disciples post-resurrection, in triumph he proclaimed, "All authority and power has been given to me." And in his own timing, by his own strategies, he is guiding the world to the fulfillment of his purposes. What if this Christmas we let John's vision of Christ flush out our fear and lay waste to ouranxiety. He's no longer a baby and I'm tell you whatever concerns you, He's got it. He's no longer a baby, He's got it. He's got you. He's able!

Send me a Text Message!Christmas is nothing more than a shopping spree, if there isn't something more to come. Right? We celebrate the first waiting in hopes of a second coming? And in our world of chaos, confusion, and conflict, we need to be reminded that God's not done. Come Lord Jesus! The story didn't end with a baby in a manger. It didn't even end with an empty tomb. God is still writing His story of redemption, andthere's more to come. Christmas is not just about what God hasdone, but what He's doing and will do. So come Lord Jesus!The story that began in Bethlehem is far from over. The babe wrapped in swaddling clothes is the same cosmic King who will one day return, wrapped in glorious splendor. The humble carpenter from Nazareth is the cosmic Christ who will make all things new. There's more to come, but we could easily ask, "What's taking Him so long?" This episode will provide at least part of the answer.

Send me a Text Message!When I ponder Christmas, and this story that Jesus told in Matthew 25, well let me turn it a bit and say this first of all. If you find yourself in need, if you find yourself in "least of these" kind of way, Jesus is so close. This story is a Christmas word of hope to every person listening who feels helpless, hopeless or homeless.  Jesus said, whenever you serve the least of these, you served me.  If you find yourself today in a least of these kind of way, Jesus is so close.  He identifies with you.  He sees you. He knows you. He loves you.But this story is also a challenge for all of us, even those of us who find ourselves in a "least of these" kind of way, to look for Jesus in face of those around us who are broken and in need. In fact I might say it like this, "Your neighbor in need might be the only Jesus you see this Christmas." 

Send me a Text Message!Lee Stroebel shares a Christmas story that ends with this summary. And at that moment, something inside of me wanted desperately to know this Jesus because, in a sense, I saw him in Perfecta and her granddaughters.  They had peace despite poverty, while I had anxiety despite plenty; they knew the joy of generosity, while I only knew the loneliness of ambition; they looked heavenward for hope, while I only looked out for myself; they experienced the wonder of the spiritual, while I was shackled to the shallowness of the material and something made me long for what they had. Or, more accurately, for the One they knew.In this episode, I'll tell their story, so that we can add to our Christmas prayer, "Come Lord Jesus and give me a heart like Grandma Perfecta!"

Send me a Text Message!Christmas is an invitation to thirsty people to come and drink. But it's also an invitation to people who have found the living water to become life-givers. Both invitations are open to everyone, with only condition; you have to be thirsty. Are you thirsty for life? If so, where are you going to get full? Where are you going to satisfy your soul thirst?My prayer for this Christmas is that we will discover that Jesus can and only Jesus can quench our soul-thirst!

Send me a Text Message!We are beginning an advent series with this episode. At advent we celebrate the waiting that led to his birth. But Christmas is nothing more than a shopping spree, if there isn't something more to come. Right? We celebrate the first waiting in  hopes of a 2nd coming? And in our world of chaos, confusion, and conflict, we need to be reminded that God's not done. The story didn't end with a baby in a manger. It didn't even end with an empty tomb. God is still writing His story of redemption, and there's more to come. Christmas is not just about what God hasdone, but what He's doing and will do. Do you understand? There's more to come.My hope with this advent series is that a three word prayer found at the end of the whole Bible, would become our Christmas prayer. "Come Lord Jesus." 

Send me a Text Message!Psalm 77 is the heart cry of a person who is waiting for bad stuff to stop and good stuff to start. He has found himself in a season of deep trouble, days when God seems absent at best, times when he cries out to God but finds no comfort for his soul. But even in this deep trouble, he finds a way to practice gratitude. How about you, have you find a way, even in deep trouble, to still be grateful? That's the focus of this gratitude pause.

Send me a Text Message!As we enter the holiday season, I just want to focus for a moment on the word, bless. Psalm 67 uses that word alot. "May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us." "God our God blesses us. May God bless us still." I'm sure that they aren't the only ones who use the phrase, but a family that used to attend Calvary, the Norwood's are the first ones who I heard use it, --BBB--  "Blessed Beyond Belief." It's not a bad phrase to carry around in our hearts as we make our way through the Christmas season, as we shop and sing and bake and eat...and eat...and eat...It's a good thing to be reminded that in so many ways that don't require a credit card or a receipt, we have been blessed beyond belief.  In this episode and the next I just want to give us a pause for gratitude!

Send me a Text Message!"Seek first the Kingdom of God." That's our final challenge for this series. We don't use the word Kingdom very much today, but in Jesus' day they used it all the time.  They understood a little bit better than we do, what a Kingdom was all about.  See in a biblical sense, everyone has a kingdom.  Your kingdom is whatever you  control. Your Kingdom is that part of your life where what you say goes. Dallas Willard calls it "the range of your effective will." Throughout life we have this inclination to protect and maybe even expand our kingdoms.  So what are your little kingdoms?  You might have more than one.  Some people are bold and obvious about kingdom-building; some people are sneaky and subtle about it. But we all have a little kingdom or two that we are trying to build. The question is am I living for my little kingdom, or am I living for His Big Kingdom?

Send me a Text Message!In this episode we going to focus on a promise and a challenge from Jesus. The promise is "Where your treasures lead, your heart will follow." The challenge is "so put your treasures in heaven, because your heart is made for heaven." Where your treasures lead your heart will follow. So where are you storing your treasures? Where is your heart? In the grand scheme of collecting stuff and counting stuff and saving stuff and spending stuff, whatever you do, don't lose your heart!

Send me a Text Message!Sometimes we make prayer so complicated! And yes, there are depths to prayer that I may never fully explore or understand, because there are depths to God that will ever be mysterious to me. But at the same time, there is meant to be a simplicity and an ease to prayer that is the ease of a son or daughter coming to their Father, their Papa God.  Stop trying to earn it.  You can't anyway, but we don't come into His presence because we earn it.  We come in because He loves us. We come in because it's home.Call out to him today. It may be that your prayer is nothing more than, "Daddy come here! But listen for His voice deep in your heart, He wants to be with you. Just let Father God love you.

Send me a Text Message!I believe that the most important part of Jesus teaching on prayer in Matthew 6:5-15 is the Father part. When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray hesaid, "Ok, when you pray...say Father."  Much of the Lord's prayer was not all that different from the standard Jewish liturgical prayers of the day; one big difference, "When you pray, call Him Father." When Jesus lived, what he had to say about God blew away the routine categories of God-pictures.  The father-truth shaped  everything Jesus said and did. It certainly shaped his prayer life. But then this this amazing thing happens, Jesus passes it on to us. "Not only my Father, your Father.  God is your Father." So here's my question, What if I learned to pray like his kid? 

Send me a Text Message!I think our greatest problem is a Sin-Soaked Heart. It keeps us from thriving, leads to addiction, ravages marriages and breaks families, it hardens hearts & creates anxiety filled minds, it drains joy and reaps discouragement..it causes us to hate or even worse ignore our neighbors. We sacrifice our kids on the altar of success and we care about so much that matters so little.  Yet in the midst of my sin, my greatest hope is that we are relentlessly pursued by a lavishly gracious, greatly merciful, fiercely loyal, patiently loving God. And every time our hearts get soaked in sin, it's time to run like little kids to our Father's arms.What is an oopster, listen in and you'll find out. But realize up front, it's far better to be His kid, than an oopster! 

Send me a Text Message!How many of us have a problem? I wonder if you could make a case that we are defined, at least in part, by the problems we embrace. What's your problem? Sometimes we call it a holy discontent; an external problem so deep in your heart that it's hard to go to sleep without pondering it's solution. Maybe it's not just your problem, it's broader and you want to see it solved for others. What's your  problem? Perhaps it's lonliness, or depression or orphans or world hunger or racism, or fill-in the blank. Can I tell what I think Jesus would say? And if Jesus would say it, than it might be a problem that goes even deeper, all the way to the core of our humanity; a meta-problem. I think Jesus would say, "Your problem is you have a broken heart." And you know what, our broken heart is Jesus holy discontent. He came to give us a new heart!

Send me a Text Message!I know sometimes "the church" is a mess & right now it's nowhere near the center of attention in central PA (or wherever you live). But "the church" is where eternity is aimed. If you hate the church, heaven's going to be a bit awkward. The sermon on the mount is the blueprint for the life of the church because it's all about becoming like Jesus.Could that be our greatest problem today? Can I tell you why we aren't the centerof attention in central PA? Why our neighbors aren't running to Jesus? Why each succeeding generation has been more skeptical of and less connected to church? Isn't it because, at least sometimes, we don't look a whole lot like Jesus? If that's the case, we don't need to restructure, reform or renew, we just need to reJesus!

Send me a Text Message!When my daughter Katy was about 3, for a season of time, one of her favorite prayers was, "And God please help me fly."  She had watched the movie Dumbo. I  was just glad she wasn't asking God for big ears! But that's my prayer at the end of this episode. God please help us to fly. Give us a love that soars. This is the dream on the heart of Christ for his church. That our love would soar. That we would be known for the size of our hearts.Listen, we can do this. I believe that the church is standing at a defining moment in the Kingdom of God. Our culture has perfected turning neighbors into enemies. But in the midst of the division, in the midst of the enemy-making, you can love in a way that amazes people. You can even love your enemies. God please help us fly!

Send me a Text Message!Jesus once said that we would be known as His apprentices by how we love. You are not know as Jesus followers by how you dress or where you live or how successful you are, certainly not by how you vote, but by how you love. Some of you grew up with those four letters, WWJD (What Would Jesus Do). They were meant to be a guideline for life, but sometimes I think it's helpful to ask WIJD (What is Jesus dreaming). What is Jesus dreaming?What matters to Jesus? What's his prayer for us? What's on His heart? What are his hopes and dreams for us. His dream for you starts with your heart. Your heart. Time and again, over and over, we see in scripture that before God releases a dream.  He always shapes a heart. What is Jesus dreaming? I think he's dreaming of a people who live different with a different heart.

Send me a Text Message!As we finish the story of Louis Zamperini...let me say this, "I don't know your story, I don't know your life, I don't know your hurt, your trauma, or your sin, but I do know that the grace of Christ is greater and goes deeper and heals more." And when real-life grace flows into your life from Christ and out of your life to others, you will be a real-life blessing. Paul writes these words in 2 Corinthians 9:6,"The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work." That's what I want. I want a don't-quit, gritty, astoundingly generous grace that will cause me to abound in every good work! How about you?

Send me a Text Message!Astonishing generosity. In the midst of NT Wright's book, entitled, Jesus and the Victory of God, he uses those two words to describe a key characteristic that Jesus' expected of his followers. Astonishing generosity. Let those two words roll around in your brain a bit, those who follow Jesus should be marked by astonishing generosity, not just marked by the astonishing generosity of Jesus to us, but because of his generosity to us, we should be marked by our astonishing generosity to others. Now Wright isn't talking about money. It would perhaps be a bit easier if it was just money. He's talking about a more difficult kind of generosity. Grace. Forgiveness those who betray us. Loving our enemies. When it comes to that kind of generosity, ask yourself, "Has my generosity ever astonished anyone?"

Send me a Text Message!My goal and prayer for this episode as we are coming to the end of Jesus' mountain-top message is that we would love His Words. It's that simple. There's no breakthrough without His Words. We won't thrive in the storms of life without His Words. So we listen to the words of Jesus, we learn His principles and practices, and then we lean in by relentlessly responding. Listen, learn and lean. Without His Words, we will not live different.This episode is my message from this weekend at Calvary...I hope it helps you thrive in the storms!

Send me a Text Message!Hypocrisy is hiding what's inside. Authenticity is transparency, revealing what's inside. But integrity goes deeper, integrity requires a transformation of what's inside. And here's the blessing of integrity; when we get real with God, the real God shows up. Can I tell you what I fear most? I fear missing out on the real God showing up. I want to experience God's presence.  I want to be a conduit of God's power.  I want to experience God at work in our community in supernatural ways.I want to see the real God show up, but what if it requires our getting real with God?

Send me a Text Message!It's a question of integrity. When you see the brilliant reds of a maple tree in the  fall, you don't have to guess if they are hanging on an oak tree. When you are out hunting and you see horns, you don't need to guess the gender of the deer.  Because in God's creation, what's on the outside is a good indicator of what's on the inside. But when it comes to people, that's not always the case. Sometimes the outside lies. There's no integrity. Integrity is not only speaking the truth, it's being true. It's the outside truly reflecting what's on the inside.So that's the question, "Does my outside match my inside?"  

Send me a Text Message!If I could say anything to you, that you will remember from this episode, it's simply this, "Just let God love you." That's where a life that thrives gets it's start. We love because He first loved us. Let Him love you. Don't put up walls, keep your heart soft.  Toward him and others.  Let grace heal wounds and even overflow in the broken places around you.  Let his forever-love be your journey's guard and guide.  Let His love give you boldness to approach Him on behalf of your marriage and any broken marriages around you. Let His love give shape to your soft heart!

Send me a Text Message!In this two verses Jesus deals with an area of brokennes, sin and failure that is all too often all too common in our world today. Divorce. He goes from adultery to divorce. In this episode we'll start by talking about marriage and the heart of a wedding and from there will be a challenge to guard your heart. But here's the deal, we don't guard our hearts by hardening our hearts...because when it comes to the pain of divorce...Everyone needs a soft heart.

Send me a Text Message!At Calvary in our current series "Live Different" we are nearing the end of Jesus' mountain-top message. Which means we are nearing the end of this podcast series, but...we still probably have 8-10 more episodes to go. So buckle up and enjoy the ride! :)This episode is the most recent message I gave at Calvary. It's a look at the "narrow way with a narrow gate" and the "broad way with a wide gate." It's a challenge to make the "master-choice." It was a pretty powerful weekend at Calvary, maybe God will use it to speak to you as well. If so, I would love to hear what God is doing in your life. Feel free to do the "fan mail" (not a fan of that name :) or send me an email to dan@calvarysc.org

Send me a Text Message!As we get into this episode on sex, lust and adultery... you may be asking the question, "How far will God go to love me?" That's the question I'll be answering before we put this episode to bed. And to be honest, my best answer is simply this. The cross is our reminder that God will go so far as to come down and give his life for you to show you his love. God will go so far as a cross to pursue us with all our heart. Never forget that truth!

Send me a Text Message!Our next section of Jesus' mountain-top message is on sex, adultery, and lust. And let me just say upfront, that one of the reasons why this is such a tough and tender topic is because there are so many people crying on the inside. Something you did, something done to you, a decision you regret, sometimes there's this deep sense of hidden inner shame.  You're crying on the inside. And if that's you, you need to hear these words of Jesus within a context of knowing that he knew that this topic could bring so many people tears on the inside. And you need to know, there was more compassion in his heart that day on that mountain than your heart could ever contain. Because in the end, it's not really all about sex, it's about knowing and being known by the giver of life!

Send me a Text Message!Do I truly value relationships? You will hear some form of that question over and over again in this episode. If you want to be the light of the world, if you want to be a real life blessing, if you want to be a reconciler with a heart that won't quit, you have to make relationships a priority. If you know anything about religion in Jesus day, presenting a sacrifice was a big deal. The common people had the  opportunity to present a sacrifice maybe 2-3 times a year. It was a big deal, big, big deal, not like Sunday worship, or even monthly communion. Jesus said, "If you are right in the middle of even your most important religious tradition and you  remember that someone's got something against you; stop the religious stuff and go make things right. Now. Don't wait. Because reconciled relationships matter more than religious routines. So ask yourself, "Do I truly value, even treasure relationships?"

Send me a Text Message!In talking about his football team, the legendary coach Vince Lombardi once said, "The difference between mediocrity and greatness is the feeling these guys have for each other. If you're going to play together as a team, you've got to care for one another." In some ways, he was just echoing the words of Jesus, when Jesus said that people would know; there would be an unmistakeable recognition that we are his apprentices by the quality of our love and the size of our hearts. When they see that they will know. But let's be honest, sometimes, love hurts and relationships are hard and we get offended.When that comes we have to choose between murder or reconcilation. And I'm only half kidding. God is looking for reconcilers to be the light of the world.

Send me a Text Message!If we look at Jesus' example we would have to say that of all his names, Father is God's favorite.  In the Old Testament God was called Father, only 7x.  Jesus refers to God as Father 17x in the Sermon on the Mount alone! The gospels record over 200x's that Jesus called God Father. God's our Father. In Jesus day, those words were  revolutionary. Never before had that been the primary way of viewing God, but it shaped everything Jesus said and did, especially his prayer life.  And then this amazing thing happens, he passes it on to us. "Not only my Father," Jesus says, "your Father. He's your Abba, Papa, Daddy God." Prayer may at times be more than, but it will never be less than an on-going and on-growing personal relationship with your Father God. So climb up on his lap and pray!

Send me a Text Message!Listen God is so good. I understand, every tragedy, every hurt, every funeral and every divorce; every disappointment seems to be marketing for unanswered prayer and unanswered prayers cause us to question the limits of God's goodness. But God's goodness has no limits. Not only can He help you, He wants to help you. Now I have to be honest, there are some prayers He will never answer, because He has something better in mind for us. But as we go back to Luke 18, we are going to see that there is a prayer, we can pray, that God will always answer...and quickly."God give me justice over my adversary." Now that prayer may not mean what you think it means, so you should listen and then pray!

Send me a Text Message!In Luke 18, Jesus tells a story with a meaning, often called a parable. But in this case, Jesus starts with the "why," the meaning.  Often when Jesus told a parable,he wouldn't give the why. He wanted the listeners to grapple with the meaning without being fed the answer. But in this case, the why of the story is so important that Jesus tells it up front. "Don't miss this." He's saying. "I'm going to tell you a story and I want the story to always remind you of the fact that we should alwayspray and never give up. Never forget this. Always pray. Never give up.Basically Jesus is repeating a message we find over and over again in the Bible. "Don't lose heart." When it comes to prayer, find something good to pray for and then don't stop. Don't lose heart!

Send me a Text Message!We are God's children. We are not God's friends. We are not God's neighbors. We're His kids. That's what Jesus was teaching about prayer and that's why He said, "When you pray, say Father." Nobody else called God father. Jesus said, "When you pray say Father." Smtms we make prayer so complicated. There are depths to prayer that I may never fully explore or understand. But there is also meant to be a simplicity and an ease to prayer that is the ease of a kid coming to daddy. Papa God. Stop tryng to earn it.  We don't come into His presence because we earn it.  We come in because He loves us. We come in because it's home and you are His kid!